[x-posted to uk.railway]
[original thread at uk.transport.london]

On 18 Dec, 20:20, "philip" wrote:
For the first time I am going to buy an annual season on Jan 1st to beat the
fare increase. I just need a Zone 1 and 2 travelcard in London which I
should really pick up from LU at my local station, Canada Water. I believe
that qualifies me for a Gold Card with all the usual perks.
However, before I invest this not inconsiderable sum of money, I was
wondering that if I bought an Oyster Travelcard from one of the TOCs, would
I get even more perks. I could consider purchasing it at any station in
Zones 1 and 2.
Has anyone any suggestions or will I already get the best deal from LU.? By
the way, I would need an Oyster Card and not a paper ticket as I often go
over the Zone 2 boundary on PAYG.
Thanks in advance for any guidance.


Good question, one that I've wondered about in the past. First off,
obviously the only National Rail ticket offices that deal with Oyster
whatsoever are at stations where Oyster PAYG is accepted. My suspicion
is that buying a Travelcard on Oyster from a National Rail ticket
office means that you forfeit any additional benefits that the TOC
might offer which are above and beyond the standard Gold Card offer -
in other words the TOC is merely acting as an agent for TfL in a
similar manner to a newsagent (though not necessarily on the same
terms).

That said, I'm not sure that you can actually buy annual Travelcards
or Bus Passes at Oyster Ticket Stops (i.e. the aforementioned
newsagents and convenience stores), because they are such a large
value purchase. If National Rail ticket offices work in a similar
manner, then they might be able to sell annuals on Oyster.

The other 'benefit' that buying a conventional Gold Card from a TOC is
that there's the possibility of a passenger's charter discount of 5%
or 10% if the service has been a bit or very rubbish lately - though
for monthlies this is only available for renewals and I think the same
rule applies to annuals aka Gold Cards, i.e. it's not available to new
purchasers.

Again I have my doubts as to whether TOCs would apply this discount
(if available) when buying a Travelcard loaded on Oyster.

One can but ask at a TOC ticket office I suppose.